The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (6038) Private Edward Laurence Curran, 24th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF, First World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Richard Cruise, the story for this day was on (6038) Private Edward Laurence Curran, 24th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF, First World War.

6038 Private Edward Laurence Curran, 24th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF
KIA: 3 May 1917

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Edward Laurence Curran.

Edward Laurence Curran was born in 1877 in Horsham, Victoria, the son of Michael and Brigid Curran. Known as “Ted”, he attended school in the nearby town of Pimpinio. On leaving school, he became a farmer in the district.
In October 1899, war had broken out in South Africa between the two Boer republics and the British Empire. Curran enlisted in the 7th Battalion, Australian Commonwealth Horse, in May 1902. The Australian Commonwealth Horse was the first Australian – rather than colonial – unit to serve overseas. By the time Curran arrived in South Africa in mid-June, the Treaty of Vereeniging had been signed and the war was over. His battalion returned to Australia shortly afterwards, but Curran chose to stay on in South Africa, where he joined the South African Constabulary.

The South African Constabulary had served in a military capacity during the war, but in peacetime it transitioned to a civil policing role in the conquered former Boer republics. Curran enlisted in the constabulary for a three-year period, and when his time expired, he returned to Australia.

In 1916, he was living in Gilgandra, New South Wales, and working as a farmer. In September, he travelled to Dubbo to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force. He undertook a brief period of training before embarking on the transport ship Argyllshire at the end of October. Arriving in England in January 1917, he continued his training at the army camps on Salisbury Plain. The conditions in camp were not always ideal, and Curran spent ten days in hospital with influenza in February. Having recovered, he sailed to France at the end of March.

Towards the end of April, Curran joined his unit, the 24th Australian Infantry Battalion. Earlier in the year, German forces had conducted a strategic withdrawal to a strongly-held position known as the Hindenburg Line. Before Curran arrived in France, some Australian units had been involved in a failed assault on the occupied French village of Bullecourt, north-east of Amiens. In May, the allied commanders again sought to capture the village.

On 3 May 1917, the second attack on Bullecourt began. The battle ran for two weeks, but the 24th Battalion was only involved in the fighting on this opening day. During that time, it suffered almost 80 per cent casualties. Among the dead was Edward Curran. He had been with his unit in France for less than a month. He was 39 years old.
Curran was buried in Queant Road Cemetery in northern France, where more than 2,300 Commonwealth soldiers of the First World War are buried or commemorated.

Two of Curran’s brothers also served in the war. Driver Michael Joseph Curran of the 3rd Field Artillery Brigade enlisted in 1914 and returned to Australia due to illness in May 1918. Private Francis Austin Curran of the 38th Battalion enlisted in 1916 and was badly wounded in the leg at Messines in June 1917. He recovered in hospitals in England before returning to Australia in June 1918.
Private Edward Laurence Curran is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among almost 62,000 Australians who died while serving in the First World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private Edward Laurence Curran, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Thomas Rogers
Historian, Military History Section